REVIEW: Future’s Eve (The Basement)

August 31, 2018

[Do Toasters Dream of Electric Loaves?] A free-form look at the (dis)respectable tradition of women created by men – from Pygmalion to that creepy sexbot of Scarlett Johansson that somebody built in their parents’ basement – Future’s Eve is a lot to process. There are so many ideas and tones at work in Michelle Aitken’s one-fembot show: sentient toasters, the […]

REVIEW: I Ain’t Mad At Cha (The Basement)

August 23, 2018

[Rejecting a Bad Rap] “Change, shit / I guess change is good for any of us” begins Tupac’s 1996 anthem ‘I Ain’t Mad at Cha’. Tupac answers his haters – critical of his ghetto-to-celebrity journey – by turning the other cheek. Even though he keeps a glock beside his head for protection from friends turned against him, “I ain’t mad at cha”, […]

REVIEW: I, Will Jones (The Basement)

August 9, 2018

[Me, Myself and I (Will Jones)] If you are familiar with the Auckland theatre scene (drink!), the Basement Theatre is the most exciting place to check out. Sometimes Q will get some braingasm of absurdity like Frank the Mind-Reading Hot Dog on one of its smaller stages, but generally if you want something more lo-fi and harder to categorise, The […]

REVIEW: SIBS (The Basement)

August 9, 2018

[O Sibling, Where Art Thou?] The concept of sibling rivalry dates as far back through history as Romulus and Remus (750 BC), and the conflict it produces has been the subject of theatrical narratives from Shakespeare’s King Lear (c. 1606) to Jess Sayer’s Wings (2013). A meta-theatrical, autobiographical comedy, SIBS presents Chris Parker, an award-winning actor and comedian with a […]

REVIEW: Near Death Experience (The Basement)

August 1, 2018

[Tunnel Vision] Not all art needs to be healing or socially responsive, and there’s virtue in expressing the pure truth of a feeling or situation. Natalie Medlock’s Near Death Experience attempts to show the depressed mind on the brink of chaos, not as a story of recovery but simply as a fact. And, at its most incisive, this is as […]

REVIEW: Run Rabbit (The Basement)

July 26, 2018

[Fight or Flight] The one-woman show has become a prominent staple of The Basement’s repertoire over the last few years. While offering individual theatremakers the space and opportunity to develop deeply personal and politically-charged works, audiences have been regularly gifted the chance to witness our most talented artists create highly responsive work in a volatile political climate. What surprises (but […]

REVIEW: Mammoth (The Basement)

July 19, 2018

[Hair and Now] As artist in residence for the Basement this year, Mammoth is Tallulah Holly-Massey’s second work following Tender is the Night.  Mammoth is a poetic and intimate display that combines the art of dance, story-telling and multi-media.  A ‘supernatural hair dance’ presented by four talented performers — Sione Fataua, Ariaana Osborne, Arlo Gibson and Benjamin Mitchell — Mammoth is an investigation […]

REVIEW: Upu Mai Whetū (The Basement)

July 13, 2018

[Celestial Navigation] Upu Mai Whetū literally means words from stars. Under the direction of Fasitua Amosa and curated by Grace Taylor, the performance showcases poems from our Pasifika and Māori literature pioneers using Māori and Pacific stars of stage and screen. The set-up is simple but effective. The seating block is end-on and laid out front are tables and chairs […]

REVIEW: Te Waka Huia (The Basement)

July 6, 2018

[History Lesion] Excavating history for the purposes of storytelling is a tricky business; a balancing act between telling the truth while being respectful to the real people. The 1963 Brynderwyn bus accident is a particularly sensitive subject, being both from our shores and the not-so-distant past. Playwright (and supporting actor) Naomi Bartley cleverly sidesteps direct commentary on the accident by […]

REVIEW: Maumahara Girlie (The Basement)

July 6, 2018

[A Hopeful Encounter and a Question Mark] Maumahara Girlie is pitch-perfect Matariki programming: a young, wāhine-driven interdisciplinary work unfolding the matrix of what it means to be Māori, disconnected, urban and educated. It is a fiercely contemporary conversation, which should come as no surprise. Writer and first-time director Mya Morrison-Middleton (Kai Tahu) is a sardonic, critical and connected force in the art […]

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